While driving through neighborhoods of Nashville, it's not uncommon to see people jaywalking or cars failing to yield to pedestrians, and unfortunately it's leading to fatal accidents where people lose their lives.
"Nobody really watches for you out there," Crystal Noble, a resident of East Nashville, said.
Crystal and her husband Andrew have tried to avoid walking down the streets of East Nashville when possible, knowing that being next to drivers who are in a hurry to get where they're going can be dangerous.
Others don't factor in the dangers, traveling across lanes of traffic outside of crosswalks. The problem with that has been that drivers aren't expecting pedestrians in those areas, and that's when tragedy can strike, and lives can be lost.
Other pedestrians choose to use crosswalks, but even there, some drivers do not give pedestrians the right-of-way.
"I've had very close calls," Jon Warkentin, a state employee who has to cross the street to work, said.
In the past two years, Warkentin said he's nearly been hit more than ten times.
"I assume they're not going to stop. I have to," he said.
Warkentin said he believes if more people paid attention and avoided distractions, a lot of these problems would go away. "Both pedestrians and drivers need to be careful, vigilant, and hopefully follow the law."
In the end it's on both pedestrians and drivers alike to respect the safety of those around them to make sure that everyone makes it home safe by the end of the night.
"I think it all boils down to people caring about each other and being conscious and watching out for one another," Andrew Noble said.
